Work Tribunal

[Rarfy]

Hi, I have also posted this under the work topic but know that sometimes there is not much traffic there.

Just after some advice, I am about to raise a grievance with work that may end up at a Tribunal but I know nothing about them and wondered if anyone could give me a little bit of information as well as what a likely outcome would be?

I am on maternity leave and trying to weigh up whether this is worth going forward with or not.

Without more information about what your grievance/claim is then it is very difficult to say what the outcome could be. As you are still employed at the company, I am assuming this is something to do with discrimination of some kind rather than an unfair dismissal case? If
(a big if!) you were to win a tribunal on a discrimination case, the court would look at your financial losses as a result of the illegal act of the employer, and are able to compensate accordingly with no cap - usually this is based on the loss of the job itself but if you were for instance denied promotion on discriminatory grounds they could award compensation on that basis. They can also make a (relatively) small award for injury to feelings. They can't really force your employer to do what you want them to do e.g. give you the promotion you wanted or the flexible hours you wanted or whatever, so in general it is better to try and negotiate these things internally rather than going to tribunal. It is fairly unusual for people to take their employers to tribunal whilst still employed TBH, if the relationship/trust hadn't entirely broken down before it is quite likely the adversarial process will put the nail in the coffin!

As to whether it is 'worth it' or not, obviously without details we can't say. But in general going to tribunal is a long-winded, expensive (even if self-representing) and stressful process and people I have spoken to who have taken their employers to tribunal have not universally felt they 'got justice' even where they won their case. It's particularly the case with big employers who can absorb legal fees and even fines/compensation paid out to employees relatively lightly - not 'fair' but that's the way it is. So it's certainly not something to be entered into lightly.

But equally that's not to say you should simply roll over and accept it if your employer is treating you unfairly. There are lots of steps which can be taken before full tribunal which may resolve the issue, the very best thing to do is consult a good solicitor who can advise with the full details before them. An initial consultation isn't usually expensive (some will even do for free), and check if you have legal cover on your home insurance as this might cover it. If you can't stretch to that then you can speak to ACAS which is a free government service, or if you are a union member then take advice from your TU rep...

There is a fee of (I think) £1200 to start an Employment Tribunal claim, so you would have to be pretty confident a out succeeding to make that worthwhile (unless you're loaded).

I'm also on maternity leave currently and dealing with some changes to my role that I think are discriminatory. As the PP has said, while you are still an employee it's usually more practical to try to resolve issues outside a formal adversarial process. Have you raised your concerns with HR yet?

My concerns are with the Union and my employer however I am fast loosing faith in both.

My union told me I would be offered a package to leave with the things that have gone wrong in mind and as far as I was concerned I was awaiting an offer.

Since then I have received the email (albeit to my works email account) agreeing my hours and stating these were verbally agreed in the meeting I attended to discuss although that wasn't the case.

I am missing out on vital information about my own role as they are not communicating it to me. I was appointed a post which has now moved and I haven't been informed of this.

I know this is a huge drip feed and probably wouldn't be taken into consideration but I have had two miscarriages, a stillbirth and this pregnancy was life threatening to both me and my baby leaving us hospitalised for the last month of pregnancy. I then got infection after infection from my csection wound which did not heal until dd was 20wks. I spent most of those 20wks back and forward to hospital then my go numerous times a week having my wound packed and dressed as well as about 8 different courses of antibiotics. I know in a sense this has nothing to do with it but I was dealing with all this work stress whilst still recovering from birth and trying to enjoy being a new parent. I have been advised against any future pregnancies too so know this is my one and only maternity apart from the one following my sons stillbirth.

I'm assuming any fee will be covered by my union as they are the ones who will put me in touch with their solicitors to proceed.

Costs have been abolished

www.citizensadvice.org.uk/work/problems-at-work/employment-tribunals-from-29-july-2013/what-will-it-cost-to-make-a-claim-to-an-employment-tribunal/paying-costs-after-an-employment-tribunal-claim/